01/12/2023
Dearest Human's Code of Ethics:
We vow to provide simple edible products. If you can't pronounce it, we won't use it. We want to create single or simple ingredient products to get our pets off the complicated food products and closer to a natural diet. To be clear, this means no additives, colors, preservatives, questionable meat, fillers, etc. The tradeoff is that our products won't be fun colors. They won't look like bacon. They won't have a year shelf life. We think this is worth it
Our food materials will be single sourced from organic, ethical (environmentally, politically, treatment of animals, small, woman/queer/poc owned if possible) farms and producers. We want to cut out wholesalers while supporting businesses that share our priorities and add to the sustainable future that is ahead of us. The tradeoff is that finding these sources and establishing long term relationships will take much more time and energy. Our materials won't be the cheapest, or available under all circumstances. Which means our products won't be, either. We think this is worth it.
Our marketing and communication will be transparent and understandable. We will not play games, tell lies, or treat the consumer as if they do not deserve to know what's behind our products or our business. The tradeoff is that we won't be the flashiest brand out there. We expect to thrive more from word of mouth than coerced reviews or expensive, well placed algorhythmic ads. And we expect that our financial success will be secondary to living our ethics. We think this is worth it.
Our non food items and packaging will rely heavily on "used" (post consumer) materials. The more we can reuse and repurpose, the better. We hold the stance that our world already has plenty of products and packaging (that immediately becomes trash) in it, and an integral part of changing business is to change the model from one of creation to one of reuse. We will work harder to reuse (and have our packaging remain reusable BY our customers). The tradeoff is that we won't have slick, flashy packaging. Our products won't be wrapped in air tight plastic. This will limit the types of products we can provide, and the shelf life of those products. It will require us to produce the packaging ourselves, using a template and system we create from scratch. It requires reliance on material sources that cannot make guarantees on the materials they will have on hand at all times. We think this is worth it.
We strive to not just offset our environmental footprint, but to lessen it from the beginning, by utilizing sustainable, creative production techniques, and we are devoted to continually auditing those for ways to improve. Specifically, we will be thinking of not just the waste we create, but the resources we use during all phases of sourcing, production, and delivery, with an eye to lessening, reusing, and repurposing. This means that a significant amount of time will be spent both researching these things and in the ongoing reevaluations. It means we will need to be creative and flexible, and our systems will not be "set it and forget it". We think this is worth it.
